One of the best trips I ever took was a week at a five-star hotel on a remote island in the West Indies — my partner and I, gourmet meals, beachside massages, every expense covered by the company I'd just helped hit a big number for. I understand exactly why that looks bad from the outside.

Here's the case for it anyway: Research by Clari shows the top 10% of sellers typically drive 65% of a company's revenue, and Club trips are one of the clearest, most-referenced incentives in the whole comp plan — top candidates ask about them in interviews. Cut the program and you'll likely need to raise base pay across the entire sales org just to stay competitive.

The real fix for the fairness complaint isn't cancelling the trip, it's the "Peak Performers" model some companies are moving to — the same caliber trip, opened to the top 5% across every department, not just sales. It costs more and it's harder to administer consistently, but it kills the "sales gets everything" resentment at the root instead of just managing it every spring.